Minutes before the Punjab Assembly session on Friday, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat sent a letter to Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari in which he had directed the party’s lawmakers to vote for Hamza Shahbaz in the election of Punjab’s chief minister. After the counting of the votes was done, the deputy speaker read out the letter sent to him by the PML-Q president and citing Article 63A of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, back in May, had ruled the votes of dissident members of the Parliament (MPs), cast against their parliamentary party’s directives, cannot be counted. The apex court, issuing its verdict on the presidential reference seeking the interpretation of Article 63(A) of the Constitution related to defecting lawmakers of the PTI, said that the law cannot be interpreted in isolation.
During Friday’s ruling by PA deputy speaker, Article 63(A) was applied after PML-Q President, Chaudhry Shujaat, wrote a letter to the deputy speaker, saying that he had directed the party not to vote in any party’s favour.
Following Mazari’s decision to disregard the 10 votes of PML-Q members – a move that allowed Hamza to retain his post as the chief minister of Punjab – PTI said that it would approach the country’s top court to challenge the decision.
